Ahh, but upstairs enables you to see further. A longer range forecast!

I have a very reliable means of weather forecasting. I look out of an upstairs window!

DA-L 135mm f3.5

The 28-80mm PZ is solidly built (disintegrating PZ switches aside), it probably isn't the sharpest but I rather like mine. Performance is more than acceptable and it's one of the fastest 28-80mm zooms at 80mm.

I will have to take it out and use it more often - a few brief tests produced this:




At a guess that would have been around f8, 28mm.

I do wonder whether Pentax tweaked it a bit, as my K-m seems to behave very differently to a friend's Sony DSLR which most likely uses the same sensor.

I do similar, but I tend to look at what I'm shooting before pressing the button!

If it really is a re-working of the 35mm f2 then it should be a cracker - Pentax have a history of hanging onto decent designs and tweaking them over the years. Witness the 50mm f1.4 which can be traced from the current FA version right back to the Takumar days and has always been a great lens.

I don't really see what that blog's point is about it being similar to the 35mm f2. That's a very well-regarded lens, and Pentax are offering what APS-C cameras need here - a cheap, standard focal length prime. I don't think any of the competitors offer such a thing?

On a related note, I'm considering Ilford SFX 200. Apparently I can develop this in the same Ilfotec HC which I already use (not sure why I thought it was Microphen earlier, should have gone and read the bottle before typing), but it has some interesting-sounding capabilities when combined with red filters. Only snag is the need to crank the handle for 9mins, but the almost infra-red results sound intriguing.

The demise of Kodachrome really annoys me, as I never had a chance to use any (and I doubt I'd find anything between now and the deadline worthy of an increasingly rare roll of the stuff).

At least Ilford are likely to keep going. Have seven rolls of HP5 here and will doubtless buy another ten pack when those run out!

That could make for an interesting challenge - cheapest working K-mount camera and lens? I think my near-mint MZ-50 and 35-80mm for a tenner on ebay last year would have to be in with an honourable mention!

It occurs to me that an enterprising film manufacturer could do worse than to introduce process paid colour print film. It'd save a lot of hassle in finding a lab to get it processed and it always used to go well for slide film.

Although, that said, I am still waiting for the return of two rolls of slide film sent to Boots using the envelopes included in the boxes some months ago. Not really inclined to use more of my small stash until I know the films will be developed and returned rather than disappearing!